- This topic has 1,240 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 10 years, 2 months ago by
.
Ongoing Complications (1000+)
-
4 weeks post -op lap chole. Still having daily stomach and abdomen pain, tense feeling, and fatigue through my core. Every night, my abdomen feels so tense and I cannot relax it. 43 yrs, 112 lbs 5’3″ Everyone said it would be a breeze. BTW, I am a operating room RN and it has not been a breeze at all. No other conditions going on either. I wonder if I was over-inflated during sutgery or something. I only feel good the first few hours of the day and then the tense tight sensation starts. I don’t know how much longer I can think I’m just still healing. Misery- at least the GB was not a daily event. It is awful and I’ve even had some ask if I have a “low pain tolerance” which I don’t. This feeling is mostly in my stomach and nearly a chonic thing now. Thanks for any advice. I work in ortho so we do no general surgeries, just bones. No help there. No diarrhea at all. Help
4 weeks post -op lap chole. Still having daily stomach and abdomen pain, tense feeling, and fatigue through my core. Every night, my abdomen feels so tense and I cannot relax it. 43 yrs, 112 lbs 5’3″ Everyone said it would be a breeze. BTW, I am a operating room RN and it has not been a breeze at all. No other conditions going on either. I wonder if I was over-inflated during sutgery or something. I only feel good the first few hours of the day and then the tense tight sensation starts. I don’t know how much longer I can think I’m just still healing. Misery- at least the GB was not a daily event. It is awful and I’ve even had some ask if I have a “low pain tolerance” which I don’t. This feeling is mostly in my stomach and nearly a chonic thing now. Thanks for any advice. I work in ortho so we do no general surgeries, just bones. No help there. No diarrhea at all. Help
I had my gallbladder removed when I was 18. I am now 26. I could always drink alcohol without any problems but now I can barely hold down 1 drink. Anything more and I will vomit for hours and get a terrible headache. It is not worth it for me so I don’t drink anymore. I think it’s time to legalize marijuana.
Bile reflux (not to be confused with acid reflux) sometimes gets worse after gall bladder removal. I would imagine smaller, more frequent meals might help. You should mention this problem to your doctor. In serious cases, the common bile duct can be surgically moved so that it empties further down the small intestine. That will prevent the bile from coming back up into the stomach.
Wow I thought I was the only one with this problem. 2 years ago I became very ill and it turned out I had an infection in the gall bladder and it just stopped working. It was 3 times the normal size and letting bile get into my blood stream. The doctor said it was rare for that to happen and he had it removed. Now I felt great after the surgery until about 3 months later. I started getting recurring pains where my gall bladder used to be. It went to the doctor about 9 months after surgery and he told me I had 4 staples left in me but hopefully they were the dissolving kind and that they would go away. Well fast forward 2 years and I still get recurring pain in the same spot that makes me feel ill. It happens suddenly and it affects my way of life. I just want to be normal but I will not have insurance again until the 1st (new job after loss of last one). Should I be worried. It affects the way I feel and I am afraid it is something terrible.
“i’m glad i found this discussion, although it seems a bit dated.
i’ve had multiple tests to try to identify the pain in my upper right side (that is also present right in the center of my abdomen). i’ve probably had 5 CT’s, blood work, HIDA scans, ultrasounds, colonoscopy, endoscopy, etc. All showed a healthy gallbladder, no kidney stones, no ulcers, an all around healthy person who was being inflicted with pain and frequent visits to the ER, crawling around on the floor of my apartment in pain, pulling over on the side of the road, etc.
the GI referred me for gallbladder removal and said i had gallbladder disease, because that seemed the only explaination. after another year of suffering, i decided to have the surgery (surgery was the last option for me – i did not want to have surgery). the gallbladder removal was done with no issues (sept 2008)
i woke up after being sent home that evening (a friday night), knowing i was dying and asked my now husband to call 911. frantic. i was put on a morphine drip and screamed in pain until saturday night when the finally found the source. a bile leak. thankfully, it wasn’t enough to kill me.
an ERCP procedure was scheduled for sunday morning to stent the leaking bile duct into my small intestine. monday morning, i was opened up again and washed out with 5 liters of fluid (the bile was sitting on my organs still, cooking me from the inside out). i was discharged a week later and told to have the stent removed in 3 weeks.
after 20 lbs of weight lost (i weighed 142 and am a 5’8 female pre-op) and 3 weeks of the stent, i started having massive left side pain. i was admitted back through the ER. the stent had obstructed my pancreas, and i had pancreatitis. another week in the hospital.
i was treated for months post-op for what i called ‘gut checks.’ it’s like being upper cut in the stomach (right/center) from the inside out. these could hold for 2 min to 2 hours and last for days at a time.
it’s august 2011 and i have these same problems still. i have gradual onset pain i can feel ‘building.’ i still have the ‘gut checks.’ i had a CT that shows only ovarian cysts on the OPPOSITE side and everything else is completely normal. i’m a 28 year old completely healthy active woman with a pristine diet. i want my life back. if you have shared any of these issues, i would love to hear your story.”
I am a female 40 years old and I had my gall bladder removed on 1/18/07. Since the surgery, I find myself in the restroom a lot. As a matter of fact, I have never visited the restroom so much in my life. I feel sick to my stomach and bloated most of the time as well. I am hoping this will pass with time. It is not something I look forward to dealing with the rest of my life.
Same situation with me and I’m still on my medically supervised liquid diet. It’s the gym that’s doing it, muscle weighs more than fat, yada yada yada, so sick of hearing that! And yet my medical specialist said to give it a month to see what’s going on with the weight, if it’s muscle or true fat weight. It makes you want to give up and go back to being “bad” but I’ll continue to watch my diet (I do get one meal a day and 4 shakes) and keep weighing and keep working out. Everyone in this profession says to add more cardio and not so heavy on the weights. Hope this helps in the encouragement dept. 🙂
I had my gallbladder removed just over a year ago. I piled on weight and my hormones seemed to go crazy! I am vegan, and still get the “7 months along” look after eating :(. I found soy was causing my symptoms to worsen, and feel better since cutting it from my diet, but the bloating and weight gain hasn’t subsided.I do not want to live this way.
“I am 3 months post gallbladder surgery & I have the same nagging pain in my back below the shoulder blade, same place as before the surgery. I had an MRI & it was normal too. I feel stupid now, almost afraid to go back to the doctor again.
I sometimes have more pain after I eat as well. Very frustrating!!”
“I just had my gallbladder out on 3/12. I had been having pain in my back sporadically over the past 6 weeks, only in the middle of the night. In the early hours of 3/12 I not only had pain in my back but also under my ribs towards the right side. I went to the e.r. where they did an x-ray and an ultrasound. My gallbladder was infected and had a few tiny stones in it so they decided to remove it laproscopically, later that afternoon. I spent one night in the hospital and they sent me home the next day with a perscription for an antioboitic and percosets. No one told me what to expect or what was normal pain. I spent the next week attemtpting to recover. My pain was awful. I couldn’t eat, sleep or drink. each night trying to sleep was long and disappointing. I had to be propped up in a 90 degree angle because any attempt at laying down was cause for extreme pain in my right side. My roommate is a nurse and kept telling me to move around. We thought it was the gas bubbles just moving around and causing pain. The pain in my shoulder never subsided and actually jumped from shoulder to shoulder but primarily was in my left shoulder. My follow up appointment was scheduled for 6 day after my surgery, but ended up getting cancelled by the doctor’s office. I went the next day, a week post-op, and told the doctor about my concerns. My stomach felt hard and caused me discomfort in the form of pressure, I still wasn’t eating, sleeping, or drinking more than 5oz of whatever I could force down a day. I asked him if he could prescribe something for sleep and he said the pain meds should be working. I told him I had finished them two days ago. He took my pulse and suddenly seemed concerned. He sent me for bloodwork. I was too exhauseted to get it that day and in too much pain so we went the next morning. My bloodwork came back with horrible numbers and I was sent for a STAT CAT scan. They found I had a bile leak. I had an emergency catheter put into my abdomen to drain the bile, which was horrifyingly painful despite the lydocain and dullauded that was given to me. They drained over 4000 cc’s of bile from my abdomen–7lbs all together. First thing the next morning I had the ERCP done. I spent the next 10 days in the hospital being monitored. The first 6 days I had a 24/7 heart monitor attatched to me, I had blood drawn every morning and vitals taken just about every hour. The catheter was attatched to a bag to drain any more leaked bile. It took the whole 10 days for my leak to close. I still have minor shoulder pain which I’ve had off and on the whole time and was receiving medecine for while staying in the hospital. I was just released yesterday and will have my stent removed in the first week of may. I have another flollow-up appointment in 2 days where i’ll have my staples removed. I still have a prescription of percosets, from the refill I was given the day before I was re-admitted, which I’m taking lightly for the shoulder pain.
If you’re having pain that’s hindering your ability to eat, drink, sleep or walk, make sure you ask your doctor about the possiblity of a bile leak. As soon as the bile was out of my system it was like a miracle cure. Once I recovered the next afternoon from the ansthesia with the ERCP I felt so much better. That poison sitting inside of you is literally just draining you of all strength. If left untreated the leak almost always leads to fatality. Be aware of your symptoms!”I had my gallbladder taken out on sept 2011 its been two yrs and six months.my upper stomach is also very bloated I had complication with the surgery I don’t know what to do.
“I am so happy to find this site, I am a female at the age of 47. I removed my GB about 6 years ago and believe me things have not gotten any better throughout the years after the removal. I was told that life would be just as before but boy was I in for a surprise. I was fine for the first year then things started happening. I have found out that I have gotten lactose intollerant, … any kinds of diary product. Additionally my stomack will react to minced meat, steaks, vegetables, some fruits, chocolate, nuts, flour and what not.
I did see a doctor a few years back where they did an kolonoskophy …(spelling….) as I complained about gas, not being able to “”hold it”” and I cannot tell you how many times I have to run to the restroom, let alone how many times I will ball my eyes out because it is JUST SO embarassing – I have absolutely no control…..not over gas or the diarrhea
I cannot remember the last time it was firm
I dont have any stomack pain at all, My largest problem is that I am not in control – latest today I had a major accident , diarrhea everywhere….. I just stand in the shower balling….
I work as well and I usually do not eat the days I work due to the fact of never knowing when it can happen……..
If anyone have any suggestions of what can be done or if anyone else experience the same I would love to know. I have heard there is some natural herbs that can help???? ”j had gall bladder removed 3 years ago and i am in terrible discomfet every day i wake up terribley bloated
I had my gb removed two years ago and have steadily put on weight. I don’t have sugar or chocolate, I don’t like the taste of it since my op. I eat plenty of veg and salads, a good healthy diet, but still am gaining weight. Your diet however, sounds ridiculously unhealthy with little nutritional value. Just my opinion.
The topic ‘Ongoing Complications (1000+)’ is closed to new replies.